Fight On Christmas Sends 2 Men To Hospital

A Man Who Was Shot In The Leg Is Now In Jail On Trespass And Battery Charges After A Disabled Veteran Was Beaten.

December 27, 1997|By Kathryn Quigley, of The Sentinel Staff

ALTOONA — A Christmas Day dispute at a home on Panther Road turned violent when a disabled veteran was beaten and a 27-year-old carpenter was shot in the leg.

The carpenter, James Mowell of 404 Main St. in Hawthorne, was treated and released from Florida Hospital Waterman. Mowell was charged with criminal trespass and simple battery and was being held without bail in the Lake County Jail on Friday.

Mowell arrived at his mother's home at 47433 Panther Road in the Shockley Heights area about 8:23 p.m. Thursday, according to investigators with the Lake County Sheriff's Office. Mowell's mother, Velma Sue Bowman, told investigators she was afraid of her son and had been sleeping in a van outside the house so he wouldn't find her. She had filed a domestic abuse injunction against Mowell, but it had recently expired.

Mowell had been staying with his mother on weekends, but she had recently told him to move out, according to Sheriff's Office reports. When Mowell showed up at the house on Christmas, Bowman's boyfriend, Ron Powers, told him to leave.

The two began to argue. Mowell punched, slapped and kicked Powers in the head, police said. Powers, 48, said he is a disabled veteran. Mowell is 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds.

Powers said he got his .38-caliber handgun from under his bed and began to struggle with Mowell again. Powers said he shot at Mowell in self-defense, and Mowell was struck in the left leg above the knee.

``I didn't mean to shoot him,'' Powers said on Friday. ``I was shooting at the floor. I was scared to death.''

Investigators did not charge Powers, who also was treated and released from the hospital.